Kedan stood close to Griffa as they walked through the largest village in the Grasslands. Anplesent was a large village with three active rings. They were currently in the third ring, heading towards the second. Griffa had heard there were many sick within the second ring, kept in one area. She wanted to visit the sick and deliver the cure.

Kedan did not like being in this village. It was too large, and Griffa was too vulnerable. He hovered close to his queen, occasionally bumping into her. He knew he was probably annoying her, but he didn’t care. He would have her very near to him at all times while in the village. He looked over to see Ansel walking very close to her other side. His eyes darted around, looking for any threats. Talon walked closely behind her as he too continually looked around. Max walked next to Talon, but only seemed to stare straight ahead.

They came to the opening of the second ring, where they were met by two town guards. They looked at Griffa, holding the hilt of their swords on their belts, blocking the entrance.

“What business do you have here?” asked one of the guards looking at Griffa.

“I have come to see to the sick people of the city. I bring comfort and a cure,” said Griffa confidently.

The guards both looked at Griffa closely. One of the guards gripped his sword tightly and said, “You are the false queen, aren’t you?” Kedan moved very close to Griffa staring down the guard.

Griffa smiled at the guard. “You may call me that, but you know it isn’t true. You know I am not a false queen. You know I am the queen of this kingdom. I do not intend to harm my people. I only want to see to the sick.”

The guard shook his head and blinked. He looked at Griffa closely as his hand fell off of his sword. He turned to the other guard who was also staring at Griffa, and she smiled at both of them.

“Will you let us pass? I would like to get to my people. I know they are in need.”

The guards both nodded and moved aside, letting Griffa and the others pass. Kedan let out a breath and walked with his queen as Griffa grabbed Kedan’s hand.

“It is fine, Kedan. You can relax a bit as I am not in any danger. I can tell the kingdom wishes me to be here. All will be will,” said Griffa as she squeezed Kedan’s hand and let it go.

Kedan did not relax. He stayed alert, watching around him.

“Griffa, you need to do what you came to do and get out quickly,” said Talon.

“I will not rush through this, Talon,” said Griffa as they turned towards a building, they knew held the sick. “I will see that all who are sick have the care that they need.”

Griffa walked into the building and Kedan followed her. The entered a large room with rows of sick people lying on pallets on the floor. There were so many people that there was barely any space between each pallet. The smell of sick was overpowering, and people were moaning and crying all around.

Kedan looked at Griffa as she put her hand on his arm. She had her head bowed and her eyes closed. Kedan placed his hand on hers and felt his magic go to her. He felt it work to comfort her. She opened her eyes and took a breath, nodding at Kedan. They were met by a healer, and she looked at them warily.

“Are you looking for someone?” she asked eyeing Griffa. Her eyes seem to be focused on the crown Griffa wore.

“We have come to help the sick. We bring a cure and our comfort,” said Griffa. She motioned to Max who brought forth a basket full of vials of potion.

The healer looked at the basket and then looked back at Griffa. “We have been told to watch out for the false queen. We are told she brings a false cure that will only cause more harm.”

“You have been told lies,” said Griffa looking at the healer. “I am no false queen. I am the true queen of this kingdom, and I bring a way to help all of these sick people. I offer it to you now. If you will not take it, I will administer it to each person here, myself.”

The healer continued to stare at Griffa. She shook her head slightly as Griffa grabbed her hand.

“I promise you,” said Griffa passionately “I want only to help my people. You are so tired. I know how hard you have been working. Let me help you by providing this cure. Let me give my comfort to the sick people in this room.”

Kedan watched as the healer gripped Griffa’s hand. She took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. “Thank you,” she said quietly. She took the basket from Max and turned.

Griffa walked to a young man who lay on a pallet. She kneeled down as he watched her. She took his hand and started whispering.

“We can’t stay here too long,” said Talon quietly. “We need to leave this town before it gets dark and get settled somewhere out in the fields for the night.”

“She will stay as long as she thinks is necessary,” said Ansel.

“Our queen sometimes forgets she has many responsibilities. The first being to keep herself safe,” replied Talon.

“Fine, you can monitor her and decide when she should stop. I’ll let you be the one to drag her out,” said Ansel.

“You know that isn’t what I mean, Ansel,” said Talon rolling his eyes.

Kedan saw Griffa look over at Ansel and Talon as she moved on to speak with another sick person. Kedan could feel her annoyance. He turned to Ansel and Talon.

“Will you two be quiet,” said Kedan quietly but angrily. “You are doing nothing but adding to the stress of our queen. If you want her to get out of this village safely, let he have some peace so she can do what she needs to do.”

“Ansel is the one who is being difficult on purpose. He knows what I meant about making sure Griffa knows her limits,” said Talon with narrowed eyes at Ansel.

“You are one to talk about being difficult on purpose,” said Ansel in a harsh whisper. “All you do lately is try to find ways to aggravate me.”

Kedan looked at Max who shook his head. “I think both of you should wait outside,” said Kedan.

Talon gave a short laugh while Ansel stared at Kedan. “You think I’m going to let Griffa out of my sight while we are in this village?” asked Ansel. “You will have to drag me out of this room.”

“Me as well,” said Talon.

Kedan looked over at Griffa who was speaking with a young girl. She looked up at him worriedly.

“Fine,” said Kedan. He grabbed both Ansel and Talon by the arm and heaved them forward towards the door.

“What do you think you are doing?” asked Talon.

“I am taking you outside. If you don’t want to cause a scene and endanger our queen, I suggest you come quietly.”

“Wait,” said Ansel yanking his arm away from Kedan. “I can be quiet. I will not say another word while we are here. I will quietly keep watch.”

“I will as well,” said Talon. “I won’t say a word to Ansel or anyone else if you would like.”

Kedan looked at both Talon and Ansel and sighed. “Fine, but if there is one word out of either of you, I will find a way to throw you out of this room.”

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Kedan turned and looked for his queen, but he could not see her. Figuring she had knelt down somewhere in the room, Kedan started quickly searching the room. He looked up and down rows of people. He started to panic as he could not find her. Kedan looked around to see Talon and Ansel looking at him, but Kedan could not see Max anywhere either. Ansel and Talon walked up to Kedan.

“Where is Griffa?” asked Ansel grabbing Kedan’s arm.

“I don’t know,” said Kedan anxiously. “I can’t find Max either.”

Talon looked around and spotted the healer from earlier and walked up to her. Ansel and Kedan followed.

“Excuse me,” said Talon. “Have you seen the queen? The woman that was with us?”

“She left with two men who came in from a side door. That young man in your party went with them as well.”

“Do you know who the men where?” asked Ansel.

“I believe they work for our village leader,” said the healer.

Kedan felt dread fill his stomach. He tried to focus and connect with Griffa to feel her feelings, but he was too nervous and agitated to get a good reading.

“Where does the leader of the village live?” asked Kedan urgently.

“He lives in the first ring, directly in the center,” said the healer. “Now, I need to get this medicine to all the sick people.” She turned and walked away.

Kedan took a breath and rubbed his head. “We have to go, now. We will need to get into the first ring and somehow get into the leader’s home.”

Kedan started walking towards the door with Ansel and Talon following. They walked outside into the second ring and started walking, looking for the entrance to the first ring. Kedan was livid. How dare they distract him from watching over his queen.

“How could she disappear that quickly?” asked Talon. “Could you not sense something was wrong, Kedan?”

“Are you serious?” asked Kedan incredulously. “I was having to deal with the both of you. You distracted me from watching over my queen.”

“We are not your responsibility,” said Talon. “You should have been keeping an eye on Griffa instead of talking to us.”

“You are my responsibility when you are agitating my queen,” said Kedan as he walked swiftly looking for the entrance to the first ring. “You two have done nothing but fight and cause Griffa unneeded stress since we left Abscon. I have half a mind to send you both back to Keene Manor.”

“As if you could do it,” said Talon.

“Try me, Talon,” said Kedan stopping and turning towards Talon. “There is nothing I will not do for my queen. I know how powerful you are, but you do not know how far my magic will go to see to my queen’s well-being.”

Kedan turned and started walking.

“Do you know how Griffa is?” asked Ansel. “Can you tell if she is alright?”

“I am not sensing anything too dire. She is stressed and unsettled, but that is usual for her.”

Kedan spotted the entrance to the first ring. There were two town guards stationed there. Kedan walked over to the entrance, and Ansel and Talon walked up to stand at each side of Kedan. The guards looked at them.

“We need to enter,” said Ansel. “You will let us enter to the first ring.”

“What is your business in the first ring?” asked one of the guards.

“It does not matter,” said Ansel. “You will let us enter.”

The guard gripped the hilt of his sword that set in his belt. “You have to have permission to enter the first ring. Who are you visiting?”

Talon sighed and threw out his hands. The two guards went rigid for a second and then walked away.

“I am guessing persuasion magic isn’t one of your gifts, Ansel,” said Talon as they walked into the first ring.

“I was trying to not cause a scene. We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves by throwing around charms,” said Ansel angrily.

“We don’t have time to stand around trying to nicely ask folk to move out of the way. Griffa and Max could both be in trouble,” said Talon.

“Causing panic in the village will not make saving them any easier,” said Ansel.

Kedan tried to ignore them both as he walked through the first ring, heading towards the center. Kedan spotted the large house in the center and walked towards it.

“Wait, Kedan,” said Talon grabbing Kedan’s arm. “What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to knock on the front door and demand to see my queen,” answered Kedan.

“Maybe we should find a quieter way to get inside. We don’t know what is going on in there,” said Ansel.

“What would you suggest?” asked Kedan.

“There is probably a back door or two. We can sneak around and see if anyone is in sight and go in undetected,” said Ansel.

“Why bother with that? Let’s just barge in the front door. Who’s going to stop us?” asked Talon.

“If we can get in and out quietly it will be easier and there will be less chance of anyone getting hurt,” replied Ansel.

“It will take too much time. We don’t know what is happening to Max and Griffa. We need to get to them,” said Talon in agitation.

Kedan walked away and closed his eyes. He tried to connect with Griffa and see how she was feeling. Kedan opened his eyes and smiled. He left Ansel and Talon and walked to the front door. He knocked before Ansel and Talon had realized what he had done.

A kind looking older man opened the door.

“Hello,” said Kedan smiling. “I am looking for a woman and young man. I believe they might be visiting.”

The man smiled at Kedan. “Your queen is inside. Are you the protector or one of the mages?”

“I am her protector,” said Kedan. “Her mages seem to be coming this way.”

“I was told to bring you to your queen. Her mages can wait in the parlor,” said the old man.

Kedan smiled and walked inside as Talon and Ansel made it to the front door. Kedan was shown to the staircase. Before he walked up, he turned to Ansel and Talon.

“Our queen has requested you wait in the parlor. I am sure we will be down shortly.”

Talon narrowed his eyes and Ansel crossed his arms, but they didn’t argue. Kedan followed the old man up the stairs. He took Kedan down a hall and to a bedroom a few doors down. Kedan peeked in to see two small beds. Max was sitting on the far side of one of the beds. Griffa was sitting in a chair between the beds. Each bed held a young girl, and Griffa was reading a book to both of them. She put it down as Kedan walked in.

“Kedan,” said Griffa. “I am glad you found us. I am visiting with my two new friends. Kali and Kila, this is Kedan. He is a friend of mine.”

Kedan walked further into the room and smiled at the girls. They looked tired but they both smiled back. One of them giggled.

“He is very handsome,” said the girl who laughed.

“I agree, Kali,” said Griffa smiling at the girl. “What do you say, Kila?”

“He is nice looking, but I prefer Max I think.”

Griffa laughed as Max turned red.

“I believe we will need to leave soon, but I would like to finish my book first if that is alright with you, Kedan,” said Griffa picking her book up.

“Of course, my queen,” said Kedan. He spotted a chair next to Kali’s bed. He walked over and sat in it as the girl weakly smiled at him.

Griffa read her book about a princess who waited for a prince to rescue her but got tired of waiting. She eventually escaped her tower by herself, and lived quite happily doing as she pleased. It was a humorous book and Griffa read well. By the time she was done, both girls were yawning.

Griffa walked over to Kila and placed her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes. After a moment, Griffa opened her eyes and said, “Sleep well, sweet Kila. You will feel better in the morning.”

The girl closed her eyes. Griffa walked over to Kali and did the same thing. Kali smiled one more time at Kedan before closing her eyes. Kedan took the girl’s hand and squeezed it gently before getting up. He followed Griffa and Max out of the room. They were met by a well-dressed man in the hallway.

“They will be much better by tomorrow, so do not worry,” said Griffa to the man. “I have given them the cure. I have also used some magic to comfort them. Their fevers are already gone.”

The man nodded. “I thank you, my queen. When I heard you were in the village, I was hoping you would agree to come.”

“I will go wherever my people are suffering. I have left many vials of the cure in the second ring. I can send more when I return to my home in a little more than a week.”

“I am forever grateful for all you have done for my village and my daughters. If I can serve you in anyway, please let me know.”

“It is enough to help my people,” said Griffa smiling.

He walked them down to the stairs to his parlor. They entered to find Talon and Ansel sitting on opposite sides of the fireplace. They stood as the group entered.

“Do you require any refreshment before you are on your way?” asked the man.

“No, we are very well supplied,” said Griffa. “We need to be going so we can leave the village before nightfall.”

“Would you like me to send some guards with you to accompany you through the village. I know some horrible false information has been circulating about you. I didn’t believe it when I heard it. I have tried to stop it, but folk do like to talk.”

“I am well protected as you can see. Any guards will not be necessary,” said Griffa. “Before we leave, can I ask you why you didn’t believe the stories about me?”

“I had an aunt who was always a little odd. I stayed with her sometimes. She told me stories of kings and queens of old. She told me of a time of peace in the kingdom when magic was everywhere. She talked to me of the true gods of our kingdom. When I heard about you, I just knew you were the true queen. Now that I have met you, I have no doubt.”

“Well, that explains something,” said Griffa. “I believe your aunt may have been from a magical family. I should tell you that both of your daughters have magical blood. They could both be magic users. It would take work, but they could be very proficient. You will hear of ways to unlock their magic with an elixir. Please don’t let them take it. If your daughters want to learn magic, I can help you find someone to teach them.”

The man’s eyes went wide. He smiled slightly. “They have always been a handful. I will keep it in mind. I will not let them take any elixirs for their magic, I can assure you.”

Griffa nodded. “We will be going. I will send you some more cure soon.”

The man took Griffa’s hand and bowed over it. Griffa looked at the others, and they left the house together.

As they walked through the first Ring, Griffa took Kedan’s arm. “I am sorry I left so suddenly without telling you, Kedan. I was approached and informed that two young girls needed my help. I wanted to tell you, but the men were persistent, and I couldn’t get your attention.”

“I was rather distracted by Talon and Ansel. I should never have left your side, but I couldn’t stand the stress they were putting on you,” said Kedan.

“They cannot go on acting like this. I will see to it soon, Kedan. I have some ideas to help them get along.”

Kedan looked at Griffa as she smiled. He was interested to see what she had come up with for the solution to their problem.